


love you like that

by orphan_account



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: A bit of swearing, Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, Cute, Dad Hopper, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, High School, Hurt/Comfort, Mileven, Post-Season/Series 02, Romance, but its still so pure, honestly its a lot of fluff, mike and el make out
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-08 21:47:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12873684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Snippets out of Mike and El's life after she closed the gate to the Upside Down. They learn things together, go to school together, grow up together.So much fluff. Just your favourite stranger things ship being cute.A bit of making out and swearing, but it's still really pure.Latest chapter:El is curious as to why people laugh when being tickled. She herself is not ticklish because all those years of prodding and poking at the Lab have left scars and her being desensitized to the tickles.So Mike obviously has to cheer her up.





	1. Chapter 1

10 months have passed since Eleven closed the gate.

10 months have passed since Mike’s and Eleven’s reunion.

10 months have passed.

Eleven stared at her calendar, which marked the year 1985.

“Kid, what are you doing?” Hopper called out to his adoptive daughter who had the door to her room opened.

“High school.” She answered.

“That’s right, you’re starting high school in two weeks.” Jim nodded and took a sip out of his beer can. “Are you excited?”

Eleven furrowed her eyebrows as she looked over to all the school books next to her which were required for high school. She didn’t respond to Hopper’s question and ran a hand through her hair.

“Kid, what did we agree on? Always answer to questions.” Jim called out again.

“Yes.” El just answered, loud enough for Hop to hear.

But actually, she was really scared. El was worried. And afraid.  
Dustin and Lucas, who have started high school with Will, Max and Mike a few weeks ago already, told her how awful it was.  
El walked over to her bed to get her walkie talkie, sat down on the floor after closing the door to her room and went on the channel which was only for her and Mike. She pulled out the antenna.

“Mike? Mike?” El asked shyly, still feeling weird talking to a technical device.

A static noise was heard for a short while.

“El?” Mike answered, seeming surprised but not disappointed.

“Yes. Hi.” She smiled as she spoke.

“Hi El. Is everything alright? Do you want me to come over?” Mike asked in worry, being the good boyfriend that he always was.

El couldn’t help but to blush at the thought that she and Mike were in a… what was it called? Romantic relationship.

“I miss you.” She just mumbled.

And in that moment Mike knew he was coming over to the cabin.

30 minutes have passed and El was lying on her bed.

 

 **Bored**.

She was bored.

There was nothing to do. She didn’t feel like studying and preparing for school because it was too hot outside, despite the month being September.  
There was nothing on TV. She’s seen everything already.  
She couldn’t go outside yet because Hopper would constantly tell her it was too dangerous, even though the bad men were gone and her one year of confinement was nearly over.  
A familiar knock on the house door made her jump off her bed and run out of her room but Hop was quicker than her, opening the door before she could.

“Wheeler? What the fuck are you doing here?” Hopper asked. Though he started taking a liking towards that kid, he didn’t like how Mike allowed himself to come over whenever he wanted to and how he was all touchy with Eleven.

“El wanted me to visit.” Mike simply explained and walked past the chief, straight into El’s arms.

They hugged like they haven’t seen each other in a year. But it has been _‘only’_ two weeks since they last met at Will’s house.

Two weeks was way too much.

“Mike.” El whispered into her boyfriend’s neck, holding tight onto the fabric of his shirt.

“El. I’m so happy to see you.” Mike smiled, his eyes closed and arms still wrapped around the petite brunette.

“Ugh, stop being so cheesy.” Hopper rolled his eyes and took out a cigarette, lighting it.

However, El and Mike didn’t hear him. They pulled away to look into each other’s eyes.

“Let’s go into my room.” El said innocently and grabbed Mike’s hand.

“Hey, Wheeler. No funny business. You understand?” Hopper quickly warned as Mike got pulled into El’s room. “Yes, sir!” He called out.

El closed the door to her room behind them without hesitating and hugged Mike again.

Silence filled the room.

“E-El?” Mike blushed. El took a step back, breaking their hug.

“Sorry…” Her cheeks turned red as well. “I really missed you.”

A smile found its way on Mike’s face. He chuckled softly and walked over to El’s bed, sitting down.

“Do you want to cuddle?” He asked, stretching his arms out to her.

El’s face lit up. No way she would ever say no to that kind of question coming from her boyfriend.  
She walked over to the bed as well and laid down on it, Mike lying down next to her. They wrapped their arms around each other, El’s knee in between Mike’s legs and her head resting against his chest, listening to his heart beat which was always faster when he was with her.  
They cuddled like this for a few minutes before Mike broke the silence, his eyes spotting something on her night shelf. “Are you reading a book?” He asked.

El looked up to him. “Yes. Romance book.”

She sat up, causing Mike’s smile to fall for a moment, a little sad that they stopped cuddling, but he quickly sat up as well. El reached for the book and showed it to the boy.

“Dream lover by Virginia Henley…” Mike read out loud and immediately recognized this book.

His sister Nancy has read this book recently and Mike asked her once what it was about, so she let him read the summary. Alone by that short summary Mike could tell it was quite a… sexual book. A romance novel but with a lot of explicit content.

“Hopper… lets you read this book?” Mike raised an eyebrow and glanced at the yellow cover.

El nodded excitedly. Seems like Hopper didn’t read the summary… or maybe El got the book secretly from Nancy? Who knew. Mike didn’t need to know.

“But there are some words which confuse me. And they are not in my dictionary.” El pointed at the dictionary on her table.

“Oh, I’m sure I can help you.” Mike offered with a smile. He knew he would do literally everything for El.

“Really? I wrote them down.” The brunette smiled and pulled a piece of paper out of the book. “So uh… what does _making out_ mean?”

Mike almost choked as he sucked air in, not having expected this kind of question.

“M-Mike?” She stuttered.

“It- It’s alright. I’m alright. Uhm…” Mike’s face became a red mess. He avoided looking at El’s eyes and stared at the door instead, like he was going to telepathically open it.

“Making out means…” He looked for words, his embarrassment making it hard for him to speak.  
“It’s like kissing. You know, what we did at the snow ball. And a few weeks ago at Will's place. And on your birthday. And on valentine’s day…” Mike began as he awkwardly scratched his eyebrow, not sure what to do with his hands. “But it’s a lot more than that. It’s like… uhm… with a lot of touching. And some people even kiss using their tongues or kiss their partner’s neck. It also takes a little longer than a normal kiss.”

El listened carefully. “Ohhh… I understand. Sex?”

Mike almost choked for the second time that day. “No, no! It’s really just… a lot of touching… sometimes touching on private parts that no one else touches…” He mumbled.

“Private parts?” El tilted her head in confusion, which was probably one of the cutest things Mike has ever seen.

“Yeah… oh jesus christ…” He facepalmed himself before looking at Eleven again. “Parts like… down there… and down here…” The teen pointed between her legs and then between his legs. God, that was awkward. Mike hated how embarrassed he was. Other guys his age were probably a lot cooler about this.  
They were still 14 years old, still way too young to do anything else than kissing and cuddling. But in two or three years they were probably going to do more and Mike felt like he should explain it to El, especially when she really wanted to know.

“Why?” El just asked.

Mike shrugged. “People say it feels good.”

“Ahh… that’s why Emerald and Sean do that all the time.” El nodded slowly and glanced over to the book.

“Yeah… probably.” Mike awkwardly said.

Silence filled the room again.

“Can we try it?”

“WHAT”

El widened her eyes, wondering why Mike reacted this shocked. “Making out. I want to do more than kissing, too! Max said she already made out with Lucas.”

Mike cringed and avoided El’s eyes once again. “Uh… yeah, I don’t know… sure, we can try but let’s not do so much of it, okay? Hopper will kill me otherwise.” He said, hating himself for how much he looked forward to making out with his girlfriend for the first time and constantly reminding himself of how young they were and that they shouldn’t go too far, yet.

El nodded and got closer to Mike. They looked into each other’s eyes and Mike placed a hand on El’s cheek before leaning in for a kiss and closing his eyes. She did too.  
They started to kiss, as innocently as always, and Mike sighed into the kiss. He’d always feel so unbelievably happy whenever he got to kiss his girlfriend. That was so cheesy but El always made him feel so happy. Holding her, knowing she was safe and right next to him and wouldn’t disappear so quickly again.  
El slightly tilted her head and parted her lips, like she’s seen people do on TV before. The young couple started getting more into the kiss, breathing loudly inbetween, because the kiss was literally taking their breaths away.  
Mike softly pushed El down to the bed, making her lie down on her back and Mike being above her as they continued their kiss. They have never done anything like this before in their pure, innocent relationship.  
But they both really enjoyed it.

El’s hand reached up to Mike’s dark hair, touching his fluffy hair.

Mike’s hand still rested on El’s cheek but slowly made its way up to her curls as well.

The kiss went on for a little longer before Mike pulled away to take a breath. El immediately pouted and raised her head a little to go in for another kiss but they were interrupted by Hopper who opened the door to her room. “Hey kid, why’s the door to your room closed-“ He cut himself off as he saw Mike hovering over his girl.

Hopper’s face darkened as he approached Mike and grabbed his arm, pulling him away from Eleven and causing Mike to uncomfortably get off the bed.

“So that’s why the door was closed, huh?” The man said in an angry tone.

“Why don’t you knock?” El whined out in frustration.

“Don’t tell me you liked what he was doing to you just now.” Hopper raised an eyebrow, sighing out in defeat as he saw El’s reaction. She just crossed her arms and looked over to Mike, whose eyes were glued to the ground. “We weren’t planning on doing more than that…” Mike said to Hop, scratching the back of his head.

“Yeah, sure, you weren’t planning to. But things never go the way they’re planned.” Hopper simply answered. “I think you need to leave now, Mike.”

“NO!” Eleven objected but Mike felt like it was the right thing to leave now before Hopper would get really mad _(and hide El for another year somewhere again)_. “El, I’ll talk to you later, okay?” Mike pointed at her walkie talkie.

“Wise choice, kid.” Jim patted Mike’s shoulder.

“Bye Mike…” El pouted as she watched her boyfriend leave who she actually still wanted to watch a movie with and eat Eggos with and spend the whole night with.

“Bye.” Mike put on a fake smile and saw his girlfriend’s sadness written all over her face. Geez, he couldn’t leave the poor girl behind like this. Mike quickly ran over to her bed to press a kiss on her lips before running out of her room again and leaving the cabinet. “Bye, sir!” He quickly said to Hopper before he was gone.

El now smiled again. Oh man. She really loved him a lot. Sometimes she wondered why Mike even liked her so much. She was really thin and short, had normal brown eyes and terrible, untamable curly locks on her head. Also, she was pretty crazy and weird, with the powers of hers which would often remind her of her dark past.

“Now to you…” Hopper mumbled as he glared at Eleven. But she just huffed and rolled her eyes, telepathically closing the door shut before he could enter it.

“Stop being such a brat. I know you wanted to spend time with him. But he can’t be hovering above you like this when you’re only 14!” Hopper ranted, staying outside El’s room and knowing she was listening. “For fucks sake, I don’t want you to lose your virginity at 14 or 15!” He blurted out and El opened the door for him again, telepathically of course. She was still chilling on the bed.

“Virginity?” She asked.

“Yes, your virginity.”

“What’s that?”

Hopper sighed out. He really needed a beer.

“Something you can lose only once. It’s very important. Every human has it.”

This answer didn’t satisfy El.

“What is it?” She asked again.

“I’ll tell you... soon…when you’re older. Until then, I don’t want that Wheeler kid on you like that again!” He warned the moody girl.

Eleven knew that his ‘soon’ could take an eternity. So she decided to ask Mike later on her so called ‘Supercom’. A weird name. Walkie Talkie was much better, El thought.

“Anyway… what about Eggos for dinner tonight? You know, so that you’re halfway happy?” Hopper suggested, leaning against the wall, looking at the girl with his eyebrows raised.  
El thought for a moment. She wouldn’t be halfway happy with just Eggos. Though she really loved them and Hop wouldn’t let her eat them as often as she’d love to.

“Eggos for dinner and also… Mike can come over tomorrow.” El added.

“No. Next week.”

“Tomorrow.”

“In three days.”

“Okay.”

They both nodded, deciding on a compromise.

 

Later that night, when Hopper was asleep (El could tell from the loud snores coming from the living room), she pulled out the antenna of her walkie talkie.

“Mike?”

“Hey El.”

A quick response. Like Mike has been waiting for El.

“Can you tell me what a virginity is?”

Mike nearly choked for the third time that day.


	2. Chapter 2

El has been going to Hawkins High for about one month now and she loved it. She couldn’t understand how Dustin and Lucas would always tell her how terrible high school is. Eleven learned so many things in these 3 weeks she has been going to a public school and was hungry for more knowledge. When she wasn’t meeting up with the party or with Mike, she would always read a bunch of books she got from the school library.  
Books about American history, art and politics.

On a rainy, autumn Saturday morning, El got dressed, since the party and she would meet up at Will’s place to study together. Hopper drove her to the Byers house. Ever since El’s one year of confinement was over, Hop let her do many more things which she wasn’t able to experience in her 14, almost 15, years of life.

When they parked in front of the familiar house, Mike had just arrived on his bike as well. El quickly jumped out of the car, before Hopper could even turn it off, and ran towards her boyfriend, wrapping her arms around him tightly. “Mike!” She smiled into his neck, like she always would whenever they met.

“El.” He grinned as well, feeling happiness spread inside of him when he held the brunette in his arms.

“Gosh guys, this is why we shouldn’t have invited them. They’re just gonna be making out the whole time.” A sudden comment made El and Mike stop their affectionate greeting.

Lucas, Max and Dustin just arrived as well. Dustin was the one who made that comment.

“Yeah, you were right.” Lucas agreed, sighing out.

“Shut up.” Mike rolled his eyes and took hold of El’s hand.

Will opened the door for his friends and soon after, they were all sitting in the living room, books spread across the table.

“Moon.”

“La luna.”

“Earth.”

“La tierra.”

Will was testing Mike on his Spanish vocabulary, since he was having his Spanish exam next week.

El quietly made her homework for English literature.

Dustin sketched something into his notebook, even though he was supposed to study for the Spanish exam as well.

Max and Lucas were arguing about a calculus exercise, since they both had different results.

Mike glanced over to his girlfriend who was really silent. He started to worry, he couldn’t help it, even though El was always pretty quiet.

She looked cute, being this focused. She always looked pretty and cute. Her long eyelashes stood out a lot, so did her curly hair and her lips, which looked oh so soft.

“El?”

She looked up once she heard her nickname.

“Can you help me out with something real quick?” Mike asked.

“I can help you too!” Will said but Mike nudged him with his elbow, signalizing his friend to stop talking.

El nodded and walked over to her boyfriend. “We’ll be right back. I need to talk to El.” Mike told his friends who all looked at him in confusion.

Before they could ask any questions, Mike softly grabbed El’s hand and walked with her to the bathroom of the house, closing the door behind them.

“I bet Mike felt horny all of sudden.” Dustin said with a grin once the young couple was gone. Lucas quietly hummed in agreement. “Think so too. Poor El.” He answered.

“What do you mean, ‘poor El’?” Will asked.

“She has to put up with his teenage hormones which he can’t hold back.” Lucas let out a laugh.

“I know someone who can be like that as well.” Max raised her eyebrows, looking at Lucas who blushed and quickly turned quiet.

Back to Mike and Eleven, Mike was blushing awkwardly at this situation. He didn’t think this through.

“What did you want to talk about?” She asked.

“Uh… nothing actually.” He mumbled. “I just kind of… felt like...yanno... making... out….” Mike stuttered, avoiding his girlfriend’s eyes like he always wound when he was this embarrassed.

Eleven widened her eyes in surprise. She didn’t expect him to say that. “Are you…” El couldn’t quite think of the word. “…turned on? Lustful? Horny?” She went through all these words which she has read the definitions of in her dictionary already.

“Oh fuc- why do you know these words?” Mike asked in disbelief but felt a smile finding its way to his way. El always surprised him.

“Dictionary.”

“I see.”

Silence.

And then, a few seconds later, El was in Mike’s arm, kissing her boyfriend, who happily returned the kiss.

Mike’s hands slid down El’s back down to her waist, just above her butt, and pulled her closer to him, while she cupped his face with her hands.

An interesting noise escaped El’s lips when she was pulled closer to Mike. Something fluttered through her stomach as she and the boy exchanged kisses.

“Yes.” Mike suddenly mumbled.

“…eh?” El pulled her head away to look at him.

“Yes, I am… turned on… by you. Ugh.” He admitted, hiding his red face behind one of his hands.

El grinned in this super cute way, which made Mike want to melt right in her arms.

“Mike?”

“Yes?”

“I am turned on by you, too.”

They both giggled and kissed once more, a lot more sweeter and shorter than their previous kiss.

“Do you know that I…” Mike started talking, lost in her beautiful chocolote brown eyes after their kiss. But he interrupted himself. This was not the time for the ‘I love you’ talk. They have never said ‘I love you’ to each other before. And Mike wanted the moment to be much more special when he’d say it. Not in the bathroom of Will’s house, with all of their friends in the next room.

“Know what?”

“Uhm… do you know that I really like you?” He quickly said.

El blushed. She liked this. Mike was never like this to anyone else but her, she noticed. He would make fun of the other boys and curse in front of the party. But Mike never made fun of El or cursed at her. Mike’s expression was much softer when he was alone with her. He smiled a lot more. He would show her the side of him that no one else was allowed to see. And that was one of the many reasons why El liked him so much, as well. Mike made her feel so special.

“I like you more…” She whispered, earning a wide smile from Mike again.

He pecked one last kiss on her forehead before letting go of El and turning around to open the bathroom door again. But El stopped him from doing that, locking the door telepathically.

“Wha-“

“Can we make out more?” El asked in the most innocent way ever.

Jesus, how was Mike able to say no to that face.

“I… I would love to… really! But the others might start thinking weird things.” Mike explained.

“Who cares?” The brunette answered and Mike tilted his head.

“If you want to, you should just... kiss me. And not think about the others.” El continued speaking.

And wow, she was so right about that. Mike wrapped his arms around his girlfriend once again and started to kiss her, not saying anything else.  
The young couple didn’t leave the bathroom for another 15 minutes.

After these 15 minutes they returned to the living room, lips and cheeks reddened, eyes all hazy.

Max, Lucas, Dustin and Will looked at each other, all of them thinking the same thing.

“Damn Mike, were you this horny that you kept El locked in the bathroom for 20 minutes?” Max asked obviously as a joke to embarrass her friend, but instead, El answered.

“Yes, he was horny. For me.” She grinned proudly like it was the greatest thing in the world, making everyone burst on in laughter except Mike, whose face was now nearly the same color as Max’s red hair.

He wasn’t mad at Eleven, how could he? She was kind of right after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I take requets and suggestions for future chapters! :)


	3. Chapter 3

Mike was **NEVER** angry with El.

He would always take care of her and let every small mistake of hers slide.

But lately, El has been doing something which bothered Mike a lot.

She’d always tell the rest of the party his secrets which he actually only wanted El to know about.

El didn’t know that Mike was not pleased about her spilling his secrets to their friends, who would then make fun of Mike. How was she supposed to know? Mike never told her that it bothered him a lot. He didn’t want to fight with El, so he just let everything pass.

 

On one day though, he had enough. He wasn’t able to put up with her telling the whole world about his secrets which were meant to be only for her ears and no one elses.

The party was sitting in Mike’s basement like they always would on Saturdays, playing Dungeons & Dragons. Well, the boys were. Max and Eleven were watching, talking to each other and usually painting each other’s nails like they did today. They sat on the couch next to the table, where the guys were playing their game.

When the boys did a quick food and drink break, Mike went over to his girlfriend, sitting down next to her and interrupting Max’s and her’s conversation. “Do you want some snacks as well, El?” He asked her with a loving smile.

She glanced at him and nodded softly, then looking back at Max to continue their conversation.

Mike brought her some smarties and chocolate bars. That’s when he noticed the quiet ongoing conversation of the girls.

Max was talking about how Lucas recently kissed her again and how nervous but happy she was about that. El listened closely and Mike pretended not to hear, though he was still sitting next to them on the couch.

“Oh!” El suddenly loudly said, like she just remembered something.

Everyone’s attention was now turned to her.

“What’s wrong, El?” Will asked curiously, shoving some skittles into his mouth.

“I have something funny to tell.” She smiled at her friends, her fingernails still wet with the purple color that Max just applied on them.

“Last week when Mike and I watched a movie, he started crying. And when I asked why, he said that it was so sad.” El chuckled, the rest of the party laughing as well. Mike was quiet, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

“Also, when we kissed a few days ago, Mike told me that I look cute when I’m blushing.” She continued speaking, blushing happily as she spoke. Eleven was obviously really excited to tell her friends all these things, but Mike wanted them to be kept a secret. No one had to know what he said to her and what he did when they were alone.

“Wow Mike, you sure are different when you’re alone with El.” Dustin laughed.

“No… I’m not.” Mike rolled his eyes. He didn’t like this situation.

“Oh, and did you know,” Eleven excitedly kept going “Mike is secretly scared of spiders and heights?” She grinned.

“You told us you weren’t!” Lucas raised an eyebrow.

“I… I-“ Mike was interrupted by El.

“Mike also told me-“

Now it was Mike’s turn to interrupt El before she could finish her sentence.

“Eleven, would you _PLEASE STOP?_ ” He yelled at her, his eyebrows furrowed in anger. The giggles and chuckles immediately stopped, everyone just staring at Mike and El in shock.  
Mike has never yelled at his girlfriend. Well, he has a long time ago, when they found Will’s false body in the quarry by the lake and he thought El lied at him. But that was different. Completely different.

“I hate how you always spill the secrets I tell you! If you continue doing that, I will never tell you anything again!” Mike continued his angry rant, Eleven trembling in slight fear, brown eyes wide open.

“Man, no need to scream at her.” Max quickly tried to defend her female friend.

Mike stood up from the couch, looking down at the girls.

“No, Max! You don’t know how annoying that is. What if El spilled all these secrets you always tell her?!” Mike raised his voice again, talking about the secrets Max told El about Lucas and her.

“Max is right, though. You could just ask Eleven to not tell us your secrets in a, yanno… normal way.” Lucas shrugged, grimacing at this weird situation.

“I think so too, Mike.” Will added and Dustin nodded.

“No! No one of you knows how annoying that is!” Mike crossed his arms and then took a look at Eleven, who had tears in her eyes by now.

Mike really couldn’t deal with that bullshit right now. He wouldn’t forgive El if she did her puppy eyes and pout at him.

The young boy angrily went up the stairs, leaving the basement and going up to his bedroom. He decided not to come out of his bedroom for the next couple of hours, forgetting about the D&D campaign and just wanting to be alone.

He didn’t say goodbye to his friends when they left in the evening, even when his mother called him downstairs. He ignored her.

 

The next day, Mike was waken up by a familiar voice. He slowly opened his eyes and looked over to his SuperCom. The walkie-talkie was as always right next to his bed on a small nightstand.

“Dustin here, Mike, do you copy? Mike?”

“Yes, I copy. Over.” Mike groaned, still feeling tired as he answered Dustin.

“Dude, you have totally fucked up. Over.”

“Huh…?” Mike didn’t know what his friend was talking about, nearly having forgotten the previous day. But then he remembered. “Ugh, don’t want to talk about it. Really Dustin, don’t even try. Over.”

A huff was heard. “I doubt a good boyfriend is supposed to make his girlfriend cry, yanno? Over.”

Mike could almost hear Dustin rolling his eyes.

“Well, a good girlfriend should not spill her boyfriend’s secret. Over and out.” Mike wanted to push the antenna back into the walkie-talkie, but Dustin made him stop.

“Wait, wait, wait! How the fuck is El supposed to know that? Over.” Dustin asked.

“Huh…? What do you mean? Over.” Mike ran a hand through his hair, just wanting this conversation to end.

“You are her first boyfriend. Don’t forget the circumstances she grew up under. Eleven still has a lot to learn and she trusts you to tell her what her mistakes are. But well, you should do that in a certain _calm_ way.”  
Mike listened to his friend. Dustin was right of course. But Mike didn’t feel like apologizing to El was right, when she did something wrong as well.

“Just apologize to her. Over and out.”

Mike winced, feeling caught, like Dustin just read his mind. He pushed the antenna back into his SuperCom and got out of bed to get ready for the day.

A week passed and it was Saturday afternoon again, time for the party to meet up at Mike’s.

All of them showed up. Eleven did too.

There has been complete silence between the two of them. They didn’t hug, kiss, talk or anything. It was worse than when they were being all lovey-dovey, the rest of the party decided.

The boys were finishing their campaign, while Max and Eleven sat on the couch as always. This time Max did almost all the talking because El was so terribly quiet that day. Actually she was just lost in thoughts, glancing over at Mike sometimes.

All of the sudden, she stood up from the couch and went over to the table, grabbed Mike’s arm and dragged him along with her, both of them going upstairs (well, Mike rather tumbled behind El).

“El, what are you doing?” Mike hissed, trying to free himself from El. He could’ve, because her grip on his wrist wasn’t strong. But he didn’t.

When the two of them were upstairs in the living room – Mike’s parents and sister weren’t home that day – Eleven stood in front of her boyfriend. She suddenly had tears in her eyes again, like she had last week.

“Mike.” She began, searching for words. “I can’t do this anymore.”

“What?”

“I… I… I miss you so much and…” Tears began falling down El’s reddened cheeks. “I am so sorry. I’m such a mouthbreather.” She trembled while speaking. Her hands found their way to her face, hiding her tears.

And Mike could feel his heart break in that moment. It hurt a lot.  
He narrowed his eyebrows and placed a hand on top of his chest, where his heart was.  
_God, I am so stupid_ , he thought. He has experienced all sorts of pain before, but never this kind of pain.

“H-Hey, El…” Mike stuttered, feeling quite helpless. He just softly pulled her into a hug so she could cry on his shoulder. Now he felt like apologizing. He felt like he had to apologize **RIGHT NOW**. He knew he told himself he would stand his ground but right now, he didn’t care anymore. But before he could speak out his sorry, El started talking again (well, she actually sobbed).

“I am sorry for breaking our promise.” She sniffled.

“What?” Mike asked again.

“I promised to be a good girlfriend.” El now finally looked at him, slightly pulling away from the hug to meet his worried eyes.

“B-But… but you are a good girlfriend. I am just a stupid boyfriend. You deserve so much better.”

“No, you deserve much better.” She shook her head.

“No, you do.”

The couple smiled at each other for the first time in a week, which felt like forever.

“El, I am sorry.” Mike’s smile fell. “I regret yelling at you. R-Really. Like, wow, I am such a dumbass for making you cry.” He said while feeling his own tears burning his eyes, trying to hold them back.

Eleven placed a hand on Mike’s freckled cheek. “Mike…”

“Eleven, I know we’re still young and it’s too early to say this…but…but… but I hope you’re the one for me. That one week without your smile and voice made me remember these painful 353 days without you. My mind just wanders and I get lost in thoughts of you. And honestly, I can’t live properly without you. You know, I look at you and I see the rest of my life in front of my eyes. And I know it’s selfish to want you all for myself but… I can’t help it.” He admitted as he started to cry now too.

And El just hugged him. She was grateful that Mike showed his emotions to her. All of them. Even anger. It just showed how much he cared.

“Mike… I love you.” She whispered into the crook of his neck, trying to hide her own tears streaming down her face now again. Eleven has been waiting for the right moment to say this.

Mike smiled as he wrapped his arms tightly around her, like he was going to lose her any moment.

“I love you too, El. So much.”

This was the first time they said 'I love you' to each other.

The two of them sobbed for a while before pulling away from their hug, just to lean in again for a kiss, which they really needed right now.  
Throughout the kiss, El’s smile grew and Mike noticed. He leaned away to take a look at her.

“Happiness looks pretty on you. Pretty good.” He grinned.

And El grinned, too.

And the young couple leaned in for another kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry uhmm, I really wanted to make this chapter longer but I have to go to sleep now because I've got school in a couple of hours and won't be able to write a lot during the week because of exams.  
> Anyway, I take requets and suggestions for future chapters! :) Please leave some ideas in the comments lol, I'm kinda out of them right now.


	4. Chapter 4

Hopper has told her so many times.

Everyone did.

Mike has told her a lot of times, too.

_Never use your powers in school. It will get you into a lot of trouble._

El has been going to Hawkins High for almost one week now. And she loved it. She learned so many new things in these few days. And she got to see her friends every day.  
She started getting used to all these many new rules as well. And so far, she managed to not seem that weird.  
However, she couldn’t help but use her powers sometimes. El was just so _used_ to using them.  
She always made sure no one was looking whenever she telepathically picked up a pen off the ground or flipped a page of her book with her mind.

 

It was a normal thursday, she was sitting in the cafeteria with the rest of the party, not quite enjoying the lunch food. She asked Hopper if she could bring her own food to school, aka Eggos, but he immediately said no, which frustrated El.

Mike would always give his girlfriend the delicious lunch stuff she wanted more of, like the cookies or chicken nuggets. He didn’t mind it at all. He wanted her to eat well.

“Hey, losers!” Someone yelled.

The party looked over to the person who yelled. The insult was addressed to them.  
Even in high school they were not popular and labeled as the weirdos.

Matthew Wood was standing in front of their table, grinning in amusement at the party.  
Matthew was just some guy who recently moved to Hawkins and decided he ruled high school. And he gained quite some popularity in the first week of school, which the party couldn’t understand at all.

“What the fuck do you want, Wood?” Dustin immediately stood up, glaring at the other teen.

“Yo, calm down buddy.” Matthew rolled his eyes, ironically putting up his hands in defense. He then sat down next to Eleven, who was known as Jane in school, and smiled at her. She was now sitting inbetween him and Mike.

“I think we haven’t talked to each other yet. My name is Matthew.”

“Hello… I’m Jane.” El slowly said, confused as to what his relationship with the rest of the party was and why he was so nice to her.

“Pretty name. And you have really pretty hair.” Matthew smiled at her with a super cheesy smile, while showing his teeth.

“Thank you.” She answered, still quite not getting the hang of this situation.

The boys and Max just looked at each other. Was… Matthew flirting with Mike’s girlfriend?

“Hey uh… she’s my girlfriend.” Mike leaned over slightly to glance at the guy with his perfectly styled hair, which reminded him of Steve’s hair.

“Oh. Wow. That’s unexpected. That you are her boyfriend I mean. But hey, can I not be polite to a pretty lady?” Matthew grinned.  
“Jane, would you like to sit with us over there?” He then asked as he pointed to another table and took hold of her wrist.

“No, thank you.” She awkwardly smiled and pulled her hand away from him, because she felt uncomfortable talking to him and also because she didn’t want him to see her tattoo on her lower arm.

“Oh come on. We’re much better than these losers.” Matthew huffed while taking a judgmental look at her friends. He grabbed her wrist again and tried to pull her along with him. “Don’t be shy.”

Mike couldn’t take it anymore. He stood up and walked over to the other side of El where Matthew tried to drag her off her chair.

“Are you deaf? She said no.” Mike snapped and tightly grabbed Matthew’s arm, pulling it away from his girlfriend.  
Matthew glared up to Mike and now stood up as well, being taller than Mike and looking down on him.

“Are you trying to pick up a fight?” Matthew smirked and pushed Mike, him taking a few steps back.

“Just leave, man.” Mike sneered.

“Why? What are you gonna do if I don’t? How come someone like you has such a pretty girlfriend anyway? Do you pay her?” 

“Hey Mike, just ignore him.” Will said to his friend.

“Yeah, he’s not worth our time.” Lucas agreed.

“Hey, how about you speak up for yourself and not let your friends do the talking?” Matthew let out a laugh before pushing Mike once more. “Jane must be pretty stupid for dating a pussy like you.”

That’s when Mike got angry. He punched Matthew’s face, hard, letting his anger out on him. The thing is, Matthew quickly punched back and that’s how Mike got into his first physical fight at high school.

The fight left him with a dark blue eye and a bunch of scratches, once again reminding him of Steve’s bruised up face from last year.  
His friends tried to cheer him up by buying him snacks after school.

“You didn’t win, but you fought well.” Dustin commented while shoving some sweets into his mouths and earning an exhausted sigh out of Mike’s mouth.

El started placing soft kisses on Mike’s face, once the two of them arrived at Mike’s place – El was allowed to stay the afternoon at his house. This was the best method to heal someone’s wounds, she once heard someone say in a soap opera. And Mike really did feel a lot better once he received his girlfriend’s kisses. It was almost worth having lost the fight. 

 

A week later, again on a Thursday during lunch break, someone walked over to the party’s table. It was a girl with long black hair and dark skin.  
She pulled on Mike’s hair, with no warning, without saying anything.

“Hey, what the- “ Mike interrupted himself as he saw a girl pulling onto his hair. He has seen this girl with Matthew before.

“So you’re the guy who fought with my babe, huh? No wonder he won so easily.” She grinned while still tugging on his hair.

“What the fuck, stop it!” Mike hissed, trying to shove the girl away.

She just burst out in laughter and let go of the dark strands of hair. The girl walked away again, returning to the table with her ‘popular’ friends when all of sudden, she stumbled over her own feet, her face hitting the ground a second later.  
She blushed once everyone’s attention in the cafeteria was turned to her. People started laughing at her. “How did that happen…” She mumbled in embarrassment, quickly standing up and covering her chin, which has started to bleed.

Mike sighed out and looked over to El, who had her head lowered, eyes glaring at the girl with the black hair who just fell. And Mike knew how she happened to fall.  
He didn’t like El using her powers in school, constantly worried that someone might notice, but in this case he was pretty grateful to her.

“Damn El, did you do that?” Max asked in disbelief. She was always so positively shocked whenever Eleven would use her powers.  
El just nodded and swiped away the bit of blood that started to drip out of her nose.  
Mike ran a hand through his hair as a smile grew on his face. He leaned over to El and pecked a kiss on her cheek.

“MIKE, WHAT THE FUCK, STOP BEING SO LOVEY DOVEY”

“WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT IN FRONT OF OUR EYES”

Lucas and Dustin complained, hiding their eyes behind their hands like they’ve just seen something way worse.  
Mike just groaned in annoyance and leaned back into his chair, while taking hold of El’s hand underneath the table. She smiled at him in the most adorable way, causing him to awkwardly blush.

The next time El used her powers in school, was the week after, on a Friday.

El had English class together with Mike. He seemed to hate that class, being always close to falling asleep once the teacher started talking, but El would excitedly listen to every word the teacher said, writing down notes as well. The rest of the party didn’t have English class with the young couple.

Eleven noticed that Mike tried to keep his head up but it kept falling off the palm of his hand, which he tried to support the heavy weight of his head with.

The brunette leaned over to Mike and poked his stomach, causing him to wince and opening his eyes quickly, looking around in shock.

“Don’t fall asleep.” El whispered to her boyfriend with a scolding look on her face.

Mike nodded slowly as he leaned back into his chair, trying to actually keep his eyes open.

After about 15 minutes, Eleven felt her stomach calling for a toilet break. “Mr Harper, can I go to the toilet, please?” El stretched out her arms to make herself noticeable to the teacher.  
“Yes of course Jane.” The teacher nodded and went back to continue writing some poems on the blackboard.  
El stood up from her chair and walked over to the door. While passing Mr Harper, she noticed from the corner of her eye that the piece of white chalk was falling out of his hands. He was just about to lean down when El stopped walking. “I can pick it up.”

Mr Harper was an old man and El knew that old people were weak and therefore did not have strong muscles.  
She glared at the chalk and telepathically picked it up from the ground. Everyone watched the piece of chalk floating into Jane’s hands and once she got a hold of it, she stretched out her arm, waiting for Mr Harper to take the chalk.

“Uhm… Jane, how did you do that?” He slowly asked.

“Wow El- ehm, Jane! You keep getting better at these magic tricks! How did you do that one?” Mike quickly interrupted in panic, knowing El didn’t like to be the center of attention. He could tell from her worried face expression that she had no idea how to excuse that accidental use of her powers.  
“You picked it up with a string, right J-Jane?” Mike tried to stay calm, hoping that El would play along.

“Yes…yes, Mike.” She lowered her head as she realized everyone has been staring at her.

“She’s such a weirdo.”  
“What is wrong with her…?”  
“She is so weird.”  
Eleven heard the quiet whispers going through the class. She said nothing.

“Jane teaches herself some magic tricks whenever she has time and they look awfully real!” Mike continued explaining.

“Is that so, Jane? Can you show us something else?” Mr Harper asked in curiosity.

Eleven looked at him, then back to Mike and then into the faces of the rest of the class. She remembered. It was almost just like back then.

When she had to go into the isolation tank back at the lab because Papa wanted to demonstrate her powers to other doctors. They all stared at her. Knowing she was different. That was the day El had opened the portal. A shiver ran down her spine.

“Jane, are you alright? Why are you this pale?” Mr Harper continued asking, placing a hand on his student’s shoulder, which brought her back to reality.

“Huh…? Yes.” She just whispered and pointed at the door. “Toilet.”

“Ah, yes of course. Go on, Mrs Hopper.”

Eleven left the class room to go to the toilet and Mike watched her leave. He would’ve loved to run after her and tell her everything was fine, but he didn’t want to make a scene with everyone else in the room already being weirded out.

“I really wonder how she did that.”  
“What are you talking about, she’s insane.”  
“I always knew she was some sort of weirdo.”  
“The way she made the chalk float looked so real though.”

Mike heard all the other comments being whispered through the room. Seems like everyone had mixed feelings about El’s ‘magic tricks’.

When Eleven came back into the room after 5 minutes and sat down on her place, Mike scribbled something on a small piece of paper, handing it over to El, when Mr Harper didn’t watch.

_Are you OK? I love you._

A smile found its way on El’s face and Mike looked at his pretty girlfriend, watching her reaction. She happily wrote something on the paper as well, quickly handing it back to Mike.

_I’m OK. I love you more._

A few hours later, when school was finally over, Mike and El met up in front of the school to say goodbye.  
“See you tomorrow at my place.” Mike grinned at his girlfriend, holding her in his arms even though everyone else could see them. He didn’t care.

“I can’t come tomorrow. Sorry.” El cringed as she spoke out the words.

“What- why?” Mike immediately asked in worry, his eyebrows narrowing.

“I’m going into town with Joyce and Hop. Buying new clothes… I think?” She tilted her head in this incredibly cute way, causing her curly locks to bounce, which would get Mike to almost want to cry. How did he get so lucky with such an amazing, adorable girlfriend?

“I see… do you wanna… uhm… you know…” He pointed to a corner next to the school which was hidden behind trees.

El quickly picked up and nodded. The couple went over to the well-hidden spot and immediately wrapped their arms around each other, leaning in for a kiss. Mike didn’t get to kiss El all that often lately, with eyes constantly being on them. Their kisses were meant to be private. Only for them.  
And El knew that as well, especially after their first couple fight. She always kept Mike’s emotions and secrets to herself now. And he kept hers to himself.

Mike’s lips met El’s soft lips, pressing them softly against his. They kissed innocently for a short while before Mike’s hand found its way to his girlfriend’s brown hair.  
El’s hands ran up and down Mike’s back.  
The two of them had to lean away sometimes to catch their breaths, not being all too experienced with making out after all.

“El, you really have to be more careful in the future.” Mike suddenly said, breaking their kiss.

“W-What..?” Eleven whimpered, upset that Mike stopped kissing her.

“Your powers. If anyone notices that these aren’t just simple magic tricks…” Mike interrupted himself while grimacing. “I’m just …. worried that someone will want to take you away again. Or that Hopper will lock you in his cabin for who knows how many years.”

Eleven closed her eyes for a moment and hugged Mike. “I will be careful. I promise. I will never leave you again.”

Though it sounded awfully cheesy and like a line out of a soap opera, Mike just wanted to melt right in her arms. She knew how to get him weak with just a couple of words. He was both worried and excited for how she’s going to use her body and charm in a few years to get him just as weak, or even a lot more weaker.

He closed his eyes as well. “El, do you know that I love you?” Mike asked, causing El to laugh.

Her laugh was like music to his ears.

“Yes. You tell me every day.” She smiled into his neck.

“Well, it’s true. My day is not complete if I don’t tell you I love you.” Mike smiled as well.

Good thing the couple was well-hidden behind the trees. No one should see that love-struck grin on Mike’s face.

Eleven could feel her heartbeat picking up. It always would whenever Mike told her these sweet things. But she was always at a loss for words when he said these things. But this time, El was prepared, ready to make Mike speechless as well.

“Mike. Falling in love with you is the best thing that has ever happened to me.” She leaned away from their hug to look at Mike, wanting to catch his reaction. He widened his eyes before his smile grew and he pressed his lips on hers. She started chuckling into the kiss and placed her hands on Mike’s freckled cheeks, keeping him close to her.

 

In the evening, the same day, El watched a new episode of her favorite soap operas. These shows were a great way for her to study the relationships between the characters.

Later that night, while El and Mike talked over the walkie-talkie, El remembered a sentence someone had said in this week’s new episode of the soap opera.

“Mike?”

“Hm?”

El had to think for a few seconds, going through the words in her head.

“You are in your bed. I am in my bed. One of us is in the wrong place.” She suddenly said.  
Mike and she were just talking about The Breakfast Club, so she caught Mike totally off guard with that sudden statement.

“Oh my god – El.” Mike started laughing, causing El to feel embarrassed at first.

“Sorry…” She murmured.

“No, no! Don’t be. Because… I totally agree with you.” He stopped laughing and just smiled like an idiot at his SuperCom now.

El smiled, too.

“Do you want me to come over?” Mike asked.

“I didn’t ask Hop…” El mumbled.

“Is he asleep?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. I’ll be there soon.”

With that said, Mike jumped out of his bed to put on some warmer clothes and meanwhile, El excitedly rolled around in her bed, waiting for her boyfriend.

When Mike arrived, he barely knocked against the door before El had opened it telepathically for him. They silently sneaked into El’s room and immediately got cuddled up on her bed, Mike spooning the petite girl. He rarely was _this_ close to El. He could feel her butt against him.

His teenager hormones kicked through, though. Oh no. He should’ve thought of this sooner.

El had just closed her eyes, ready to fall asleep when she felt something relatively hard press against her from behind. She turned her head and saw Mike’s completely red face. She wondered if she has ever seen it this red.

“S-Sorry, I’m j-just… Let’s lie down differently if it bothers you.” Mike stuttered, avoiding El’s eyes, already moving away.

The atmosphere was so nice, why did he have to get a boner now. Out of all times.  
Mike just wanted to face palm himself, hating himself for creating such an awkward situation.

“Boner?” El asked quite curiously, looking over her shoulder at Mike.

He nodded in embarrassment. Wow, so she knew about that. Seems like one of the girls, either Joyce or Nancy, have told her some new facts.

“It’s okay. Thank you.” She thanked him before getting comfortable against Mike again.  
He finally calmed down. So did his manhood down there.

Mike let out an awkward laugh. “W-Why are you thanking me?” He still had his arms wrapped around El, spooning behind and making him not see her face.

“For finding me attractive.”

Mike blushed again and nuzzled his face into El’s hair, wanting to hide his embarrassment.

“Uhm… you’re welcome.” He mumbled. Mike had obviously noticed the changes his and her body went through. They were growing taller and hormones and emotions came along. Her hips slowly started getting wider and her bust did too. And Mike would lie if he said that he wasn’t growing down there as well.

Just the thoughts of these facts made Mike blush even harder. He felt so immature. Nancy recently had _the talk_ with Mike, because he obviously fell head over heels for El. And she did too, for him. And Nancy was worried.

“You’re both growing and that means that you’ll be experiencing a lot of new emotions. And also, whatever you do, you have to make sure El is comfortable with it. And don’t take it too far yet, you guys are just 14 years old after all.”

These were the words that stood out to Mike the most. He made sure to remember them.  
His number one priority was El after all and he would hate himself for the rest of his life, if he did something that hurt her or made her uncomfortable or embarrassed. He got a taste of it a while ago, when they fought. Gosh, he wished they would never go through a fight this bad again.

“Mike?”  
El suddenly interrupted Mike’s train of thoughts.

“Yes?”

“I don’t understand though, what is attractive about me? I don’t have blonde hair and I do not have curves. And I am not tall.” She quietly said.

Mike sighed out, placing a kiss on El’s neck.

“El, everything about you is attractive. You are beautiful. And don’t let anyone tell you something else.” He explained.

“But my hair-“ She pouted.

“Is pretty.” Mike finished the sentence for her.

El turned around, facing Mike now and them breaking out of the spooning position.

“Really?” She asked shyly.

Mike nodded, looking into El’s face. She was really beautiful. He fell in love all over again, if that was somehow possible, as he adored her.

“Really. You know, friends don’t lie. And boyfriends especially don’t.” He grinned.

El finally smiled too and she kissed Mike goodnight before closing her eyes and getting all cuddled up against her boyfriend.

“I love you.”

“I love you more.” And with that said, Mike drifted off to sleep, with his arms around his love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I take requets and suggestions for future chapters!  
> Please leave some ideas in the comments, I'm kinda out of them right now... :'D


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mentions of abuse and scars.
> 
> I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING SOONER!
> 
> BUTTT I met FINN WOLFHARD AT COMIC CON LAST WEEKEND AND I'M STILL SCREAMING!  
> He was just so nice and he called me sweet AND AHHH  
> If you're curious, you can look at the pictures on my instagram account (@xameryuu) !  
> https://www.instagram.com/xameryuu/
> 
> Anyway, this chapter really sucks and it's pretty short, but I'm kind of having a massive writer's block lately and I'm trying to get past it asap.  
> Hope this chapter is still somewhat read-able.  
> 100% inspired by the prompt of maxmayfield on tumblr.

Everyone was ticklish. Or at least a little bit.

Eleven has seen Max tickling Will’s stomach before, which caused him to burst out in laughter.

She always wondered why people were laughing or cringing when being tickled. She just couldn’t understand the reason behind it.

On a cold spring evening in April (El has been going to High School for a couple months by then), she was at Mike’s place to watch one of her favorite soap operas together. She knew that Mike was not the biggest fan of them, but he’d always tell her that he didn’t mind watching them with her.

They were sitting on the couch in the living room, Mike’s arm wrapped around his girlfriend’s shoulders and her head leaned onto his.  
“Mike, why do people tickle other people?” El asked all of sudden.

“Huh? Oh uh, I guess because it’s fun to laugh together.” Mike answered and looked down at Eleven.

“Is everyone ticklish?” She continued asking.

“I’m not sure about adults, but kids, yes.” 

“Are…. Are you ticklish?”

Mike furrowed his eyebrows. “…no…” He said unsurely, though it was obvious that this was a lie.

“You said all kids. So you’re lying.” Eleven pouted, causing her boyfriend to gulp in nervousness.

“Yes, I am ticklish, but that’s not important, right? Why did you ask me?” He quickly tried to get the focus away from him.

El uncomfortably stirred in Mike’s arm as she searched for words. She’d often have to go through sentences in her head before speaking them out loud. She didn’t want to make mistakes.

“I tried tickling myself, but I didn't react to it…” The petite girl mumbled and avoided Mike’s eyes, staring at her fingers instead.

Mike’s lips curved into a smile and he pulled El even closer to him. “You can’t tickle yourself. That doesn’t work on anyone. Can I tickle you?” He asked with a grin and Eleven finally looked up at him.

She slightly nodded and Mike’s fingers immediately started moving around her stomach and ribs. He was expecting her to furiously start laughing, but she just awkwardly shifted around, even letting out a distressed weep like she was scared.  
Mike abruptly stopped and pulled his hands away, guilt spreading across his whole face. “Oh shit, sorry. I thought you’d laugh…” He stuttered as he spoke, upset that she was not ticklish. He also couldn’t help but to wonder why she was reacting this way.

“I thought so too…” Eleven slowly said and closed her eyes in frustration, leaning against Mike’s arm again.

A sigh escaped Mike’s mouth before he widened his eyes as he realized why El was probably not ticklish.

“El, can I ask you something? If you don’t want to talk about it, just tell me, alright?” His eyes met hers and she nodded again.

“Did the bad men at the Lab touch you… a lot? In a painful way?” Mike carefully asked, causing Eleven to nod once again.

Hatred, anger and rage immediately filled Mike’s body, now fully aware that all these years of being poked and prodded and maybe even worse must’ve left her desensitized and not ticklish to the spots on her stomach and over her ribs. His fists clenched at the thought and he narrowed his eyes, angrily staring at the TV.

“Do you want to see?” Eleven asked, interrupting Mike’s flow of thoughts and making him soften his facial expression as he looked at his girlfriend.

“What do you mean?” He asked in confusion.

“My skin.”

Mike did not expect that so he scratched the back of his head, like he'd always do when he didn’t know what to say.

“W-Why..?” He shyly asked after a few seconds.

“Scars.”

Her response made the red blush on Mike’s cheeks disappear and genuine concern made its way to his face again.

“Oh, uh… I mean… if you want to? You don’t have to. I want you to feel comfortable after all, yann-“

Eleven interrupted him. “You should know about them, Mike. I’ve never shown them to you.”

Mike gulped and the two of them nodded at the same time.

El sat up normally, not leaning against Mike anymore, and pulled up the fabric of her red sweater, revealing old scars and bruises. Seeing them, Mike was very sure about the fact that the bad men did things to her, which were a lot more worse than just poking.  
He looked at the few scars in horror, slightly relieved that there were not a lot of them, but they were still there.

“They are not pretty.” El frowned, obviously upset about them.

She pretty much broke Mike’s heart in that moment. He pulled down her sweater again and hugged her tightly, pressing a kiss on the top of her head.

“I am sorry that you don’t feel pretty with them. But you have to know that you’re still the most beautiful girl for me. And though the scars remind you of your past, they should also remind you that we have met because you were so brave and escaped out of the Lab. And I will forever be grateful for that, because we would’ve never met otherwise.” The words came flooding out of Mike’s lips, as he poured all his love for her out.

This was another one of those magical, special moments. Mike was never like this with anyone else, Eleven has realized ever since she met him. He was always so soft and patient and loving towards her. It made her feel special. Tears filled her eyes and she wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face into his chest. Mike smelled like vanilla, she noticed. Seems like his mother used a new fabric conditioner when she washed his clothes. Usually he smelled like flowers.

“I… I love you…” She whimpered, feeling happy again.

Mike finally smiled again. He could pretty much hear her smile.  
“I love you too, El. And I always will.” He whispered.

A few minutes passed and the couple continued watching the soap opera. Mike was sitting and Eleven was laying on the couch, her legs stretched out and placed over Mike’s lap.

Without her noticing, Mike shifted a little, his hands moving to the soles of her feet. He then started tickling them and finally got the reaction he wanted. Her eyes widened in surprise, her body started moving around wildly and a lot of lovely, loud giggles escaped her lips.

“W-Wha- hahaha!” She laughed and Mike felt like his ears were being blessed in that moment.

He stopped after a few seconds and crawled to Eleven, hovering above her now and her lying below him. “Did you know that you have the most beautiful sounding laugh ever?” Mike asked with a smile.

El could feel the blush tinting her cheeks. Mike looked pretty with his hair falling down like this and framing his face.  
She reached out her hands and cupped his face, pulling him down to her for a kiss.  
And Mike happily returned the kiss.


End file.
